Combat vehicle Ò-34 has been pulled out from the river in Surovikinsky District of the Volgograd Region.

The tank will be repaired and sent to a museum, and the history of its crew that defended Stalingrad will be restored.

Experts believe that the tank was assembled in some of the Ural factories already during World War II, and was sent to the front-line directly from the conveyor. The found vehicle, one of the ten tanks that held the line at the approaches to Stalingrad in this area, presumably finished its combat life in 1942. It is only now, 68 years later, right before the anniversary of releasing Stalingrad from fascists, that the fate of the crew can be established.

Remains of the perished soldiers will be honorably reburied in Mamaev Barrow on 9 May, the Victory Day. While historians find out details of the men’s history, the tank will be sent for reconstruction to the Volgograd Tractor Factory. Then the tank will be set up on the pedestal in the centre of Volgograd, by the museum-panorama Stalingrad Battle. It will be the museum’s first tank that really took part in the crucial battle on River Volga.